Leo XIV

The Catholic Church has elected a new pope, an American named Robert Francis Prevost who has taken the name Leo XIV. There's a lot of speculation about whether Leo XIV will be a liberal, a moderate, or a conservative, and although it's too soon to offer an opinion, his inaugural homily is encouraging.

Here's an excerpt (The entire text can be found here):

Even today, there are many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent. Settings where other securities are preferred, like technology, money, success, power, or pleasure.

These are contexts where it is not easy to preach the Gospel and bear witness to its truth, where believers are mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied. Yet, precisely for this reason, they are the places where our missionary outreach is desperately needed.

A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society. And these are not few.

Today, too, there are many settings in which Jesus, although appreciated as a man, is reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman. This is true not only among non-believers but also among many baptized Christians, who thus end up living, at this level, in a state of practical atheism.

If this is indicative of his views, and I can't imagine why they shouldn't be so regarded, then I'm encouraged. Everything he said there is what devout, educated Christians have been saying for a very long time, and it'd be wonderful to have a man in the Vatican who desires to use his influence to educate those who need to be disabused of their misconceptions of the Christian faith.

To the extent that Leo XIV will be that man he needs and deserves our prayers.